For those of you who are behind on essays or other work, we’ll have a couple of sessions over break where you can get yourself caught up. There might even be pizza there.
December 27: 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
December 29: 1:00 p.m -3:00 p.m.
The door by the history hallway will be open. If you arrive late and the doors are shut, you can text me using Remind and I will open the door.
Let’s get this done. You can turn in any assignment for credit.
On the test, you will be asked to answer three of the questions below, each in a well-developed paragraph of at least six sentences. Your answer should include specific detail from the text and our class discussions. There will also be a short answer portion of the test.
- What is the Matthew Effect and how does it affect success?
- Gladwell argues that even with ability and effort, people must have the opportunity to succeed. What does he mean and how does he show it?
- Why does Gladwell contrast the lives of Robert Oppenheimer and Chris Langan? What does the contrast show?
- Gladwell argues there are only two kinds of parents. What are they and how do these styles affect the likelihood of success?
- Gladwell argues that cultural legacy affects us in ways we don’t understand. Use at least three examples from the text to support this claim.
- Why, according to Gladwell, is it so difficult master a skill?
Enjoy this solid remix of the Good Morning song.
The Prompt and Due Dates
- More information to come, but the assignment is located here.
- The final draft of the paper is due on December 11th, printed in class. The last date for first drafts will be Sunday, December 3.
Resources for Writing a Research Paper
- Sample A Education Reform Paper
- Purdue Online Writing Lab MLA Handbook
- Son of Citation Machine
- Diana Hacker’s Sample MLA Paper and Guide
- Step-by-Step Instructions for MLA Formatting
- MLA Checklist for Research Papers
- HHS Research Guidebook
- Making Headers MLA-compliant in Google Docs
- Creating a Hanging Indent in Google Docs
We’ve got a number of revisions floating out there this week in AP Lang. The due dates are as follows:
- Thursday for any straggling civil disobedience drafts and media sensitivity revisions.
- Friday for welfare revisions.
Plan to spend some time on these. Revisions need to be more than adding one or two sentences in a paragraph. Often, they mean rewriting an entire section or completely developing the argument from a new point of view. Too many revisions of the last set were half-hearted and many included new grammatical and spelling errors that proofreading would have caught.
It’s time to bear down on the essential skills of these essays: crisp, interesting claims supported by both an obvious organizational structure and well-developed proof. Make sure you are putting in the time to make that happen.
Revision guides for the welfare essay are available in the downloads folder and there definitely wouldn’t be any harm in reviewing the guidelines for essays and revisions here.
Tuesday, we’ll talk about some common errors that need to get fixed.
